Videos: Police release confronting videos of dogs being Tasered - and reveal the context

Police have released eight videos taken using Taser cam units of dogs being shocked by the 50,000-volt weapons, while also explaining how they happened.

As part of an investigation into Police tasering of dogs , 1 NEWS requested the footage under the Official Information Act for Tasers 

Summaries of the events depicted in the footage were provided by police and are published verbatim below.

Events B and C were withheld because they were deemed by police to be "out of scope" in regards to the OIA request.

1 NEWS NOW warns viewers that the footage contains imagery of animals in pain and some people could find it distressing.

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Event A - Bay of Plenty - November 2016

Police were called to a family violence incident at a house where a man had assaulted a woman and was outside smashing up the property and yelling aggressively when police arrived. When the two attending officers approached the man, he swore at them and urged his bull mastiff dog to attack them, and it rushed the officers. Pepper spray was first tried but this failed to incapacitate the dog. The dog subsequently attempted another rush at the officers but was contained by another person at the house. The man was subsequently arrested by police without further incident.

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Event D - Wellington - December 2016

In this incident, police were responding to a burglary call at a house in Lower Hutt. When the officer went to the door, he was charged at by a very aggressive pit bull dog. The officer deployed the Taser a number of times without effect until another officer was able to Taser and pepper spray the dog. Both officers were luckily not injured. The owners of the property were spoken to and were happy with police actions. The dog was uninjured.

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Event E - Auckland - January 2017

Officers were responding to a serious assault and attending to the injured victim when they saw the alleged offender (who was known to police) running from the scene. He was spotted a short time after with his dog in a nearby street and police staff moved to arrest him, telling him to get on the ground. While police were busy with him, the dog began barking aggressively and advancing on officers, then suddenly lunged at them. Fearing for his safety, one of the officers discharged the Taser and the animal was incapacitated. It then ran off and was located later by animal control and required no medical attention once the Taser probes were removed. The dog's owner was arrested and charged with various assault-related offences and breach of bail.

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Event F - Wellington - January 2017

In this incident officers were called to respond to reports of a man fighting and a possible firearm involved at a house in Porirua. When police arrived to search the property, a labrador at the property began barking aggressively and lunged at one of the officers. Believing that he was about to be attacked and bitten, the Taser was discharged which caused the dog to run away and hide. The officer also considered the risk that the dog could have attacked other police officers, as well as a police dog who were at the scene.

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Event G - Bay of Plenty - January 2017

In this incident officers were called to respond to reports of domestic violence. Enroute police were informed that the subject of the call for service had threatened to assault police when they arrived. When police arrived they located the man on a deck outside the house. He was threatening, abusive and was urging an aggressive dog to attack police. As police approached, the dog aggressively rushed at police growling and baring its teeth. The man was warned to control his dog, but did not do so. The dog, at first, was sprayed with OC spray (pepper spray), but this was not successful in preventing the dog from attacking police. Police attempted to enter the property from a different point by the dog ran at officer who, fearing an imminent attack, used a Taser. This immediately incapacitated the dog, who, after five seconds, got up and ran off in a different direction. The man was arrested and charged with assault.

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Event H - Auckland - February 2017

Police were looking for an active offender at a property in West Auckland following information received that he was living at the house. As police approached the house, two large pit bull dogs began barking aggressively and advancing on police, before suddenly lunging at officers. Fearing he was about to be bitten, the officer discharged the Taser, and both animals ran off and hid. The animals' owners refused to allow police to assess the dogs. The man police were looking for was not located.

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Event I - Counties Manukau - February 2017

In this incident, police arrived at a house to respond to a report of a serious assault involving a critically injured victim. While police were at the scene, a large group of 12-15 intoxicated people were also present, including two men who were being obstructive towards police staff, which included a dog handler and police dog. While at the scene, police received information that a man wanted for breaching bail was hiding there. As they walked up the driveway, one of the men began yelling abuse, and a pit bull dog began charging at speed towards the officers and the police dog, which was on its lead and being held by its handler. The pit bull launched itself at the police dog, biting at the stomach area and both dogs began fighting. The dog handler attempted to dislodge the attacking dog by kicking it away but the dog was unrelenting. Considering that other tactical options would not be effective in the circumstances, another of the officers discharged the Taser on the pit bull, temporarily incapacitating its back legs and it dragged itself away. Following the Taser discharge, the crowd of people started becoming abusive and confrontational, which eventually led to two men being arrested. The pit bull dog was later attended to by a vet and the Taser prongs removed, but did not show any ill effects from the Taser. The police dog did not sustain any visible injuries but was monitored by its handler.

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Event J - Eastern - March 2017

Police were called to assist ambulance staff following reports of a woman with a badly cut leg at a house. On arriving at the house and searching the property, they could not find her. But two dogs at the back of the property began barking at officers, before launching at one of the officers. Believing him or his colleagues could have been bitten, the Taser was discharged and the dogs ran to another part of the property.